Accident or Intentional?

We have a young man on his 4-wheeler, riding carefree in the front yard. What a pleasant scene at the Ford Homestead.

A boy on his ride and the Fords trusted guard dog Tejas, laying in the front yard. Alex’s 4-wheeler had been charged the night before and was running at full speed; almost 2 mph. Alex had made several thrilling trips around the circular flower bed showing his riding skills by occasionally riding on two wheels.

OH MY!

What happened?

               Did the young man on the 4-wheeler run over the Ford’s trusted guard dog Tejas?                 Did he really back away and laugh at the poor animal lying in his back with all 4 feet up in the air?  What kind of evil child could do such a thing?

               Sob, Cry, Sob, Cry…

              Or, is it possible that Tejas was scratching his back and Alex had stopped politely waiting for the animal to get out of the way before making another lap.

The front yard was looking good this morning. I had mowed and watered it yesterday and the grass was standing up and looking good.  After Alex finished riding and tejas finished rolling several times, the poor yard looked as if there had been a buffalo stampede across it.

From the always inventive mind of                            Don Ford

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Miniature or just little?

            My quandary is whether it is a miniature in which case we have something special or is it just little (young, not yet grown).

               I understand that you, the only reader of this article, are finding it difficult to believe I know the meaning of quandary. I know it is difficult for you to believe I have an IQ of 153 (not). All smart people do not necessarily talk like they are smart.

               I am starting to adjust to being pawpaw every day of the week. With Dave and Claire working Alex has allowed me to pay cars and trains with and he allows me to push him in the swing. Dave and Clair have brought the swing set from Dallas and it is waiting to be assembled in our back yard.

               Speaking of back yard that is where we see the “miniature or just little guy” a couple times daily. The word guy is used bit it may be a girl, I really do not know.

               I was sitting in my rocker yesterday contemplating world events while watching the water sprinklers spray dollars on the grass. It was 103 degrees in the shade. Did you know there is no need to say, “in the shade” when referring to the outside temp; the outside temp is always taken in the shade. 

I noticed an anomaly in one of our ferns that is planted near my chosen rocker location. It appeared to me that something had burrowed into the fern using it as a possible nest or sleeping quarters for the night. Although the photo below is not up to my usual high standards, it does show the burrow in the fern. You may also notice my constant companion and amigo Tejas in the upper right hand corner of the photo, he is standing guard.

               Back to the littler fellow. We have been seeing this small rabbit in and around our back yard.  He often goes under our shed to avoid Tejas. There are no photos of this little fellow but he is able to literally run at full speed through our chain link fence. He is probably not a miniature and is most likely just a young rabbit but he does not seem to be growing and we have only seen one. 

               A little known fact about rabbits is; the mother rabbit will pull hair from her belly to make a nest for her new born babies. When I think of that action, it must hurt but probably clears the way for the babies to find the milk outlets.

               We will attempt to get a photo of this little rabbit and post it.

From the miniature mind of                         Don Ford      Did that sound right to you?

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The rest of the story

     I was going through old files today and I found this article which I don’t believe I have posted. It was a follow up to a June 15^th posting.

            As I have told you I had gone to my past employer to pick up an order and donate to charity; there is more to the story than that.

               I know for some of you this will be shocking and very hard to believe but it is true. As you know, I had decided to go out to DIB to see if I could win a lawn mower donate to charity. Prior to leaving the house, I decided I would like a cup of Star Bucks coffee while I was out. I know that is shocking to some of you; me, on a fixed income, not knowing where my next meal will come from, spending money on Star Bucks coffee.

               I started liking Star Bucks coffee when I was traveling all the time. When you sit in an airport for hours waiting on you flight having a cup of coffee to sip on is nice. When I retired a good friend gave me a Star Bucks gift card which kept me dropping by for a cup every now and then.  As time passed, I received other Star Bucks cards, which only added to the Star Bucks addiction.

               This morning I could not find my card. I looked everywhere but the card was not to be found. I thought, the card might be in my pickup truck and David had driven the truck to work. Since I was going there anyway I would look in the truck. I searched the entire truck; the card was not in the truck.

               I did find something interesting in the back seat kind of hidden buy the child’s jump seat. There was a Power Ball ticket. I put in in my pocket and continued to search for the Star Bucks Card.

Do you find it odd that I continued looking for a Star Bucks Card when I had a Power Ball ticket from April 24^th that may be worth a bunch of money? 

I had to pay for my coffee with money but I did have some help. In a past visit they gave me my receipt and if I complete an online survey I would get a dollar off my next purchase. I completed the survey and had the receipt with me. My coffee only cost 70 cents.

Back at home I went on line to see if my power ball ticket was a winner. I did not get one number, not one.

My wife did not have any idea where my Star Bucks card was. Even though it is difficult, I racked by coffee depleted brain as to where the card could be.  I went into the garage and look in the pocket of the motorcycle.  I had recently ridden the bike to Star Bucks for a cup.  The card was not in the bike.  I was ready to give up.  All seemed lost. There may never be any happiness in the world again.

Then it happened; I thought, possibly I had been wearing my riding jacket on my last visit to Starbucks.  The card was in the pocket.

The sun began to shine again; all was good in the world.

From the caffeine addled mind of              Don Ford

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Sorry for the dely

I am sorry for the delays in posting. There is some type of problem and it is taking more than a day to get a posting from my computer to the Blog site.

Have a good day.

                      Don Ford

Early evening at the Ford Homestead

            It is early evening at the Ford Homestead as I and my trusty sidekick Tejas were enjoying the evening. I was sitting in my favorite rocking chair near the garage door on our drive way.

               Retired people who exist on a fixed income much like my wife and I, often have a favorite chair and they are often rocking chairs. As you may know I often contemplate deep, difficult subjects, which would be problematic for a person with an average IQ to consider. 

The subject this week is; “why do retired people on a fixed income like rocking chairs?”

               Tejas and I were enjoying the early evening as we watered the front yard. Tejas noticed the moon was out early again this evening as it had been for the last 4 or 5 evenings. When he pointed it out to me I decided I would take a photo, to share with you.

Not a cloud in the sky this evening and it was starting to cool down. We were at 99 today which is better than what some of the northern states were having.

               As you can see below Tejas was guarding the Ford Homestead by lying in the grass next to a water sprinkler. He knows how to take a shower, now I need to teach him how to use the dog shampoo.

 

 

               OK, back to the rockers and retired fixed income people. I have discovered that the rocking motion of the rocking chair gives the retired person a feeling of going somewhere. Since the retired person on a fixed income hasn’t the money to go places, the rocking chair is their way to get a felling, ever so small feeling of getting away.

               If you would like to send a retired person on a vacation you can make a donation to “The Ford Foundation of Hewitt”. Identify the donation as “vacation funds”.

 

From the rocking chair traveler mind of    Don Ford

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Me complain? Not me...

            I would like to talk about service from Office Max and the McLennan County Tax office.

               All those who knows me, understand that I “never complain”, unnecessarily. So, it is obvious that this is a necessary comment on service provided or not provided.

               As most of you know my trusted Nikon camera is broken. The cover that keeps the batteries in place will no longer stay closed. I have tried tapping it closed and it was ok for a few minutes but then the tape let go.

Office Max had an advertisement showing a camera similar to mine for $64.00. I went to their store and asked to see the camera. The fellow working there said, there had been probably 6 people asking for the camera but they did not have any. He went on to say, the only store that had one of these cameras was in Austin.  I am sure you understand those comments made me unhappy.

Office Max knowingly puts out an ad for an item that they do not have and evidently did not expect to have. The fellow said we have other cameras on sale and pointed at the camera display. The display could hold possibly 40 cameras and they may have had 5 or 6 on display. To say their service sucked would be an understatement as they had no service.

Now let me tell you about the tax office. I went to Lorena, TX (a small town south of Hewitt, TX) to that tax office to get my license for my motorcycle. The lady that worked there was nice and actually pleasant. This was kind of a surprise to me as I did not expect good service from someone that worked for the government, especially a tax office.

From the complaint free mind of                Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                 

Garage Sale

            People on a fixed income have to resort to selling their prized belongings to make a few dollars.  The Ford Homestead is almost empty on the inside due to selling possessions so we can pay our bills.

Donations may be sent to the “Preserve the Ford Homestead Foundation”

When having a sale in your drive way you should decide on a theme. We decided to go with “Poor Texans” as our theme. It is advisable to have the sell in the cooler months and not July or August. The temp was officially 105 Saturday and even though there was shade in the garage and two fans running at top speed it was not comfortable.

There was a sign placed in my well-trimmed yard, and people seem to totally disregard the feelings of the grass as they walked and sat chairs on it. I have watered it twice since the sale attempting to put some life back in my grass.

               On a different subject, I picked up my new sun glasses and they are really nice. I am able to see the world around me through dark lenses.  This pair of glasses will probably be the last use of my company insurance as the “Government Medicare” starts on August first.

(Possibly you have noticed that I have skillfully inserted this comment in the story line to advise you of my upcoming birthday August 14th. I know most of you will want to acknowledge my birth by sending checks, money orders and or gifts.  Please send these to the Ford Homestead Foundation before August 14^th. )

Back to the sale; some of the items belong to a friend of ours. About half was ours and the other half was theirs.  I don’t know why I say “ours” as I did not receive a penny from this sale. I did spend my money for donuts that were shared by all.

               Before you ask, no one made an offer on the garage so we still have it, and I do not know how much was made from the sale but I can tell you it wasn’t enough to get me to sit out in the heat all day.

From the garage sale mind of       Don Ford

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Cleaning up at the Ford's

There are times when we all need to help clean up and today was one of those days.

               There used to be a saying, “children should be seen and not heard”. I believe we could modify that to say, “Children should be worked and not allowed to play”.

               As you can see in the following photos, I have put my saying to good use and have required the children (Gabi 5.5 years and Alex 2.5 years) to work for their supper.

 In the first photo we see Gabi doing her dance moves as she washes the wing. She has found this to be effective at cleaning and a way to relieve stress.

I put the canopy in the drive way to keep the sun off me and immediately had two helpers.

 Alex participated in the cleaning process and at one point he was attempting to wash my shoes. I explained to him that he needed to put the soap and water on the bike and not my shoes. It was explained to me that my shoes were dirty (they are the shoes I wear when I mow). 

The rolling stool was for me but at one point Alex washed the stool seat and all.

 I must say they were very diligent at the process and did a very good job.

 I was very thankful for the help but they did not seem to appreciate the Rush Limbaugh radio show that I was listening to.

               I guess I should have taken a photo of the bike after it was dried. Yes I was using the broken camera to take these photos, I have it tapes together. 

               We are still taking donations at “The Ford Homestead Foundation”, for the purchase of a new camera.

From the almost always clean mind of      Don Ford

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Alarm Clock

            Yes we can afford an alarm clock even though we are on a fixed income. Well, the truth is, we have had the alarm clock since the olden days when I worked and had a real income.

               We get up at the same time each day and we do not set an alarm clock. Today we both over slept a little (8 minutes). My amigo Tejas came to my side of the bed to be petted. He will bump the bed a couple times and if you don’t pet him he will get your attention with a wet nose. I reached over and rubbed his back without opening my eye. Tejas usually wants me to pet him a couple times each night. When I stopped petting him he turned the other side and asked for more. I obliged with another generous back rub.

               I just thought of this; why do humans rub their dog’s backs but never get a back rub in return from the dog.

               Tejas’ third request caused me to wonder what he was trying to do. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock.  I had over slept by a few minutes.  Tejas knows I need to put the recycle container out on Wed. morning so I assume he was trying to be helpful. I also put food in his bowl each morning when I get up but I am sure that was not the motivation.

               I will answer the question that several of you have asked;

               “Has the old black pecan fallen off the tree and did the world come to an end?”

From a previous posting; Control click to follow this link       End of the world ..          

               The pecan has fallen and as far as I can tell, the world has not come to an end yet. I did over sleep this morning so possibly that is a sign.

Have a nice day and enjoy the heat.

From the often sleepy mind of     Don Ford

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Camera is Broken

            Poor retired people like me living from week to week on a fixed income have it hard enough but when their little $79.00 camera breaks and they haven’t the funds to replace it…

               Yes my little camera has broken from over use.  When you are retired and have nothing to do other than take a few photos and possibly a few naps your camera is a large part of your life.               (Donations can be sent to, “The Ford Homestead Foundation”)

               Today they have blocked our street off and are pretending to be resurfacing it. I thought it was odd that I along with my wife (who had a birthday yesterday) my grandson and Daughter-in –law were all outside watching the event.  That tell you how exciting things are at the Ford Homestead.

               Claire starts a new job today so she had to move her vehicle to another street before they started the work.

               My wife is planning a garage sale this week so if you need any old stuff please come by her sale.

               I plan on taking a short 3 day 2 night trip next week (free hotel stay or I could not go) but now that my camera is broken I may have to change my plans. Surly someone could donate an old digital camera. 

From the poor broken camera mind of     Don Ford

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Grandchild at work.

            Getting the grandson to start working isn’t difficult but keeping him in the ditch working is more difficult.

               The day started out like many other days with some coffee and a review of my hectic daily schedule. On the list for this Sunday was;

1.     A trip to the mall to pick up my new glasses

2.     Lunch

3.     Nap

4.     Supper

5.      

Little did I know that my well planned and properly organized day would involve yard work, along with an attempt at keeping the grandson working? 

Dave had decided he would mow the ditch behind the house so he could run his remote controlled car. While he was mowing I decided that it would be a good idea to plant a new tree in the back yard. I picked the first spot which turned out to be too difficult to dig in due to some rocks. The second spot I hit roots almost immediately. I picked a third location and decided that I should have a younger person to dig the hole for the tree.

Alex and I began the negotiation over the wages and breaks. Since Alex is 1/3 the size of a teenager I felt that he should only receive 1/3 of minimum wage. I soon found that he was a tough negotiator. After several offers and counter offers we settled on an hourly wage with an agreement of non-disclosure.

I allowed him to use my tools to do this work. Alex seems to me to be an inspector more than a labor.   As you can see he is reviewing the work before continuing to dig.

Tejas (our guard dog) was carefully observing the work being performed from a secluded spot that is usually cool on his belly due to daily watering of the shrubs. There is a plastic water bottle that he had been chewing (a favorite toy, the sound that plastic bottles make under the vicious teeth).

You might know that Alex really gets in to his work…

The constant breaks started to get to me as I was paying for an hours work but not getting an hours work.

 Alex called it inspection and measuring but I believe it was taking a break. 

 Finally the hole was deep enough to plant a tree. Donna and I ventured fourth to find a tree but the nursery that is always open on Sunday now has different hours. Feeling dejected I returned home without a tree.

               I felt so bad that I had to take a Sunday afternoon nap.

               Later in the afternoon we decided to try a couple other nurseries for a tree. As we left the Ford Homestead I noticed the ominous looking clouds in the sky. Now we were in a battle to see if we could find a tree that would fit in the hole and get it planted prior to the looming rain.

At the second nursery we found a live oak and headed for home. Alex wasn’t much help in planting the tree because he was taking a nap (like grandpa like grandson). The nap was a smart move on Ales’ part as we did need to hurry to get the tree into the ground.  We had placed all the dirt from the hole in a wagon and if the rain were to fill the wagon before we emptied it we would have a muddy mess.

Mission accomplished, tree planted. Light rain showers began shortly after planting.

               Now everyone that has been telling me to plant replacement trees in the back yard can see, I have started.

From the Live Oak mind of          Don Ford

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Four Wheeler

In today’s world a young man isn’t a real man without a motorcycle of some type, Alex has a 4 wheeler.

Alex is the owner of a 4 wheeler; it isn’t gas power due to a restriction put in place by, “his mother”.  Alex’s 4-wheeler is battery powered, and will do about 3 mph on a flat cement surface.

Speaking of battery powered, I was at the Honda shop getting my motorcycle inspected last week when I saw a bicycle sitting on the show room floor.  I asked if they were now selling bikes and the answer was yes.  I was told the bike sold for $2,100.00.  They look like a regular bike but they have an electric motor and I am told, will run at a speed of 20 mph. You can peddle the bike like normal or you can use the battery to assist you to go faster or up hills.  Speaking of hills, the price was a little steep for me.

This morning Gabi, Alex and I went to the back yard where we took on the task of washing Tejas.  Truthfully it isn’t much of a task as Tejas likes to get a bath. We wet him down and then soaped him up. I allow him to run around the yard for a couple minutes with the soap still on him. He usually rolls in the grass a couple times before I rinse him off.  We then  called him back to us for the rinse. Once he is clean and rinsed he again rolls in the yard collecting as much grass on his back as possible. It takes about 3 hours for him to dry completely. Then I brush him to remove the lose hair.

Gabi and Alex were both excellent helpers and their reward was to get sprayed with the hose. I should note that they had their swim suites on so it was part of the plan from the beginning.

After all the work I got a cup of coffee and sat in my favorite chair while the kids played in the front yard. Alex was riding the 4 wheeler and Gabi was just goofing around. Gabi found a mushroom or toadstool. I found it hard to believe that a fungus would be growing in my manicured front yard.

I went to investigate and Gabi was correct.

There it was, standing tall in direct defiance of me.

It was so unbelievable, I took a photo.

What could have caused this mold to be in my yard? Then I remember, we had received about 1.25 inches of rain over a 4 day period. Thank goodness it was not my failing that allowed this toadstool in my yard; it was strictly nature showing it’s defiance toward me.

Alex at times likes to test the grownups. Today as he was riding the 4 wheeler in the front yard he ran into the barrier that is around the flowers. He started to whine and wanted someone to come and get the 4 wheeler away from the barrier.

I got up from my favorite rocker to see what he needed. I then sat back down and watched him.  He got off the 4 wheeler and back on, about 3 times.  Finally when he decided that no adult was coming to his rescue he got back on, put it in reverse and backed away from the barrier. He then proceeded to ride around the yard.

From the almost fungus free mind of                       Don Ford

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Wild Hogs

            For those of you who appreciate a good moving, you will know Wild Hogs is the name of an excellent and I believe, true moving about three motorcycle riders.

               Today is Thursday, which is usually the day I ride out to the Bunk House for lunch while Donna cleans. I haven’t decided whether I will go to the Bunk House today as I have a couple errands I need to do.

               Yesterday I help a friend to set up a new computer. The time consuming part was all the downloading of updates that took place. Yes, you can put computer expertise next to my title. My title seems to get longer each day.

               On the way home from the Bunk House last week I found a dead hog on the side of the road. To us people on fixed income, finding a whole hog is not just a blessing but a miracle.  This hog weighed in at approx. 150 pounds. It appeared to have been dead for less than a day so I stopped and decided to refill the deep freeze. There were some flies and other bugs on and around the hog but not enough to stop me from harvesting a few parts. I always carry a sharp knife which enabled me to...

               I just had a thought about knives and the fact that I have carried a pocket knife since I was in the 3^rd grade. I carried a pocket knife all those years but I never killed anyone and I never robbed a convenience store.  Now days just having a pocket knife in school will get a kid in trouble. We live in different times…

               Back to the hog; I am not sure if it was wild or not. There weren’t any houses around close so it was probably wild. I was able to get a ham removed from the carcass and I carried it on the back seat of the bike. I also removed some ribs which I carried in the trunk of the bike. That road killed Wild Hog is helping feed the Ford Family. 

               Well I need to get a shower and go run my errands or I might not get any supper tonight.

From the pork filled mind of                        Don Ford

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School Trip, 1955

            Well of course you would be interested in what I was doing on a school trip back in 1955.

               I am not sure of the year, but it is probably close to being correct.

I am the handsome young man in the front row between the girls. You can see that there are 2 girls on my left and two on my right. I recognize three people in the photo, Connie Ratliff, Terry Ashby and Donnie Smith. This photo was taken after a train ride from Cape Girardeau, Mo. to Chaffee, Mo.

               I don’t find it amazing that I was surrounded by girls even at this young age.

There are 5 kids on the front row and if you could see the photo better you could see that we are out in front of the main group. I don’t know why, it may be the way we were dressed. I appear to have a leisure suit before they were popular (I have been a trend setter all my life).

From the earlier mind of                Don Ford

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Truck Trash

            Got your attention, didn’t I.  Well we have all heard of trailer trash and you may have heard of white trash but you probably have not heard of truck Trash.

               As you know, here in Texas almost everyone owns or has owned a truck (pickup truck). Pickups are the national car of Texans.

               If you read my previous article you may have noticed at the end I stated, “It is now raining! Two days in a row, Hooray!” Well, it rained 6/10s of an inch.  That is enough to be helpful to the grass and other plants.

               I will attempt to mow the front yard today, the rain along with some watering last week has perked it up and it is very tall.  It was very wet this morning from the rain yesterday.  I hope to be able to get it mowed sometime this morning before the predicted afternoon rains (70% chance).  

               I guess I should be outside now edging the yard, in preparation for the actual mowing.

               We will get back to the Truck Trash in a moment but first I would like to address a language concern. Alex’s mother has been observing that Alex must be a Texan because of the way he says a couple words.

This may be difficult for some of you to follow so I will attempt to keep the explanation simple.

The word that comes to mind is swang (long a sound). Alex says, I want to swang”. His mother is correct; he is using the wrong word. The word he should use is swing, (I want to swing).  I have explained to Claire and others that everyone knows, “you swing on a swang”.  Swing, is the act of being on a swang.  Swang is the thing one swings on. Even people from Missouri should understand that.  If you can’t follow that explanation send me an email and I will explained it in more detail.

Truck trash is a term that Alex uses when talking about the trash truck or garbage truck. This morning Alex and I were sitting on the front porch discussing world events when we heard the sound of the trash truck, it was about a block away. We sat there motionless watching the trash truck come down the street stopping in front of each house. The big mechanical arm would reach out from the front of the vehicle and pick up the trash container lifting it over the hopper and dumping it. There is a loud noise during this process and we were spell bound as the trash truck driver ran his route. We especially enjoy the beeping sound the truck makes when it backs up. The driver waved at us as he passed in front of our house.  We were somewhat sad as he continued up the street.

From the trash truck mind of                       Don Ford

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Peanuts

            It is possible that I have been cursed by the Peanut Genie.  

As I have stated in the past I have had two cans of peanut turn over in my pickup while I was driving. One time I had to make a quick stop and spilled half a can, the other time was when my GPS fell and pulled the can of nuts off spilling the entire can. Today was no exception.

Yesterday is rained here at the Ford Homestead. I was watering the yard when it started. We received 1/10 of an inch of rain according to my rain gage. That is not a lot of rain but we are thankful for any rain received this time of year.

               Dave worked on his remote controlled car all day yesterday. He even allowed me to review his work and offer advice.  My carburetor cleaner seemed to be very helpful when he removed the carburetor and found the throttle body was not turning inside the carb. When the throttle was working properly the car could be reassembled.  The car was driven up and down the street in front of the house.  Nice job Dave.

               I uncovered my trailer that I pull behind my motorcycle on trips.  The inside of the trailer was completely dry but the cooler that is mounted on the front of the trailer had a couple inches of water in it. I found that to be odd since it was also covered by a tarp.

               I am planning a three day two night trip at the end of this month so I wanted to check the trailer out and see if everything was in working order.  I had to add a little air to the tires but other than that it was in good order. Yes even the lights worked when I connected the trailer to the bike. I took the bike and trailer for a short shake down run and it was as if the trailer was not even behind me. You can see in the photo below the bike and trailer together after my short shake down run.

               When you pull a trailer on a trip one always takes too much stuff.  Since you have all that extra room you tend to just keep adding things. I need to look for a cooler that is closer to the color of the trailer or bike.

   

               On a different subject, I want to tell you about your federal government and how they take money from us retired people who live on a fixed income.  Your federal government sent me a letter saying that my little social security check will be even smaller next month.  As a birthday present your federal government has decided to take $99.00 out of my SS check each month just because I am turning 65.  Why they are doing that to a nice person like me, you ask. I will tell you why. They want me to pay more toward the Medicare that starts for me next month.         

               Then I will also need to have a prescription plan that I have to pay for and if I want an insurance company to pay some (not all) of the cost that Medicare don’t pay, it will cost me more. So to recap; when I have my 65^th birthday your government and the insurance people take almost all your little SS check. Happy Birthday to me; @%#)^$&!

               If you think all that is bad, let’s get back to the peanuts. I was sitting in my front yard minding my own business, Alex and I was eating from my can of peanuts. My wife decided to get Alex his chair and sit him in front of me.  That seemed to work so I placed the can of peanuts on the chair by Alex. That was working ok until Alex decided to lean back and the chair tip over backwards spilling at least half the peanuts.  Alex was ok as the grass was about 5 inches deep and allowed him to land easily. Why was the grass so deep you ask, it was deep because I did not mow this week. It has been so dry I did not want to stress the grass by mowing it.

               It is now raining! Two days in a row, Hooray!

From the peanut sized mind of     Don Ford 

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Dreams are unusual

            My dreams are almost always “out of the ordinary”.  But then again, I am not ordinary.

               I guess I am “over the hill”, my dreams no longer include a good looking lady. Although there was that one dream, I digress.

               My dreams are for the most part, nice and kind of enjoyable. I seldom have a night mayor. My dream last night was kind of sad.

               Speaking of sad, the holiday is over and we all must get back to work. Ok, some of you must get back to work those of us that are “retired” work continually. A good friend of mine recently had back surgery and was unable to do much of anything for several days. He commented that he was “bored out of his mind”.  I then explained that he was experiencing retirement. I went on the say, only retire if you have another job or something that you want to do.

               Our holiday was kind of uneventful. We didn’t go anywhere opting to stay at home. We had an excellent dinner after which I washed the dishes. Yes, washing dishes is another skill that I am continually cultivating. The grandkids had a few fireworks to pop in the drive way. Our 4^th was safe and uneventful.

               I have been looking at the yard which needs to be watered. The wife told me it is going to rain in the next few days so I have put the watering off. I don’t think I will mow until after the grass is watered either by rain or by sprinkler.

               A couple of my friends and I are considering a three day visit to the hill country. It would be a three day motorcycle trip that in total would be about 1000 miles. That reminds me I need to get the bike inspected this month and I will also need to change the oil before the trip. Darn, it is getting too expensive for a person on a fixed income. (Donation will be accepted until July 21^st.)

               Back to my dream, it was odd as usual but said. There was this container that was made of glass. The glass walls were about 6 foot high, the end was approx. 10 feet wide and the sides were about 50 feet long. Inside the container (which did not have a top) was a creature the looked like a large flower bloom attached to the inside of the glass. Around the glass were several of these large blooms and although they were not connected they were part of one presence. This presence was supposed to get married but the blooms were dying. Each time I walked around the container there were less large blooms. The blooms when they were dying would just fade away. When I was awakened by Tejas I remember thinking; that dream is sad and I don’t want to continue it.

               My dreams most often continue throughout the night. If I want to stop a dream I must completely wake up and clear my mind of the dream. There is a problem with this process and it is once I am completely awake it is difficult for me to get back to sleep.

            On another topic, my schedule has changed and I do not get as much time at the computer as I did in the past.

               I am not complaining just saying that I am working on a different schedule. My morning at the PC now includes Alex. He most often eats my cereal (but he don’t like the raisins) and then we either play cars on my desk or we play with the key board and mouse. Alex hasn’t started drinking my coffee yet.

               We did get a new swing for the kids yesterday. No, not a swing set just a single swing that we attached to the frame that use to have a porch swing on it. Now Alex and Gabi can swing side by side.

From the dreamy mind of              Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                  

                  

Cacti hurts

Cacti is a plural of Cactus and we have both.

               Gabi is 5.5 and Alex is 2.2 years old. Both have their own ideas and opinions. This morning while enjoying a cup of coffee in the near freezing temperature of 72 degrees, Alex disagreed with me. This young man needs to learn that, “everything considered, I could be right”.

               We were sitting in our chairs on the drive way when this yellow school bus came by. Alex said it was a truck and I explained it was a school bus taking kids to school.  Alex insisted it was a truck and would not change his opinion. Being stubborn might be a trait of the Ford family, but he still needs to learn that I am always right.

               Yesterday I was pulling a few weeds from an almost perfect flower bed when Alex just had to walk in and through the flowers. In this flower bed there are some cacti growing. I showed him the stickers and pulled a large sticker out of his pants (it did not stick him). What I did not see was several smaller stickers in his pants.          We moved to a flower bed at the back of the house and Alex was again in and among the flowers and shrubs when he started to cry and point at his leg. I took him into the house to his mother. He always wants his mother when he is hurting (I don’t blame him, mothers are very comforting).There were several very small stickers in his leg. We used a magnifying glass and a flash light to find them all.

               Back outside again I was pulling weeds from the flower bed when I showed Gabi what mint looked and smelled like. She began to inform me that her teacher had shown them what mint looked, smelled and taste like.  She needs to learn to let me instruct her in these matters and not listen to outsiders (her teachers).  How can I teach them anything if they are going to listen to others?

From the sticky mind of Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                  

                  

The last box is in...

            Yes I was there and I placed the last box in it resting place.

I can’t say it is the final resting place but it is in place and resting. Speaking of resting, my amigo and I were in our resting places, me in my rocking chair and he in the green grass of our front yard. All was quite when Tejas alerted. Before you ask what “alerted” means, he raised up quickly, standing motionless staring at something. Then he quickly moved toward the object and I got out of my chair to see what he was after. Tejas stopped near our mail box and I saw a little dog that may have weighed 15 pounds running down the street at top speed with his tail tucked between his legs. 

               The funny part was, when this little dog was at a safe distance he stopped and barked at Tejas. He was acting like he was something powerful. 

               I was scheduled to help Dave and Claire on Saturday morning to load their U-Haul truck so they could move their belongings from Dallas to Hewitt.  Even though they had reserved a truck they were told the night before that there was no truck available. 

               My mom and dad moved a lot when I was a kid and I totally disliked moving. I didn’t care that we was in a different house, I did not like the work. Our moved consisted of a pickup truck lots of boxes, lifting, carrying and in general hard work.

               I received a call from Dave Friday night that there was no truck available which was disappointing.  Then Saturday morning about 10:30 I received the call that they had a truck.  I told them I would be there in a couple hours. I quickly got all my necessaries together, bottled water, one diet coke, a change of clothes, peanuts, my star bucks card (just in case) and a sweat band. 

I was almost on my way; I had to stop and get a tea at Bushes. I decided to get some chicken with my unsweetened tea, so I could have a lunch on my way to Dallas. This was the first thing that went awry; the tea was sweetL.

I needed gas so I went past the Wal-Mart gas station but the tanker was there filling their tanks. I do not by gas at a station while the tanker is filling their tanks. Why? I will tell you why; when he fills their tanks it stirs up all the water and other items that is on the bottom of their tanks. I drove to the next Wal-Mart station that is on I-35.

Finally on the road again I was eating and driving my way to Dallas. I like to have my GPS with me even though I know where I am going. I can easily see how much longer I have to drive.  I keep a small towel on the center console to keep my arm off the vinyl.  I had the GPS sitting on the towel and I had just opened a can of peanuts that was also on the towel. 

A few weeks ago I had a can of peanuts sitting in almost the same place when I had to hit the brakes hard and the can went forward causing at least half the peanuts to hit the floor.

As I was driving I was unaware that the GPS was moving off to the side of the console pulling the towel with it. Then it happened when the GPS fell into the next seat the peanuts went to the floor. This time all the peanuts were spilt on the floor. This was the second thing that went wrong.

Arriving at the storage shed I then remember I had not brought a long sleeved shirt with me. Not good as I am supposed to keep my arms out of the sun. This was the third thing that went wrong.

Dave and Claire had most of the boxes out of the shed and Dave was ready for the heavy work. The couch is a hide-a-bed and heavy. It takes two strong Ford men to carry such a couch. We managed to get it loaded and it was time for a short rest for me.

The rest of the loading went well and about 5:00 pm we were through and I was ready to head for home. I put on a dry shirt but decided not to change my blue jean shorts. 

I headed to the store for some peanuts then to McDonalds for a sandwich to go. There is a large parking lot next to the McDonalds so I parked under a tree in the shade to eat. The food, drink and air conditioning felt good. After eating I decided to change my shorts.  Have you ever changed shorts while sitting in your pickup truck in the middle of a parking lot?  It is an odd sensation but is can be done. I started for home. The rest of the trip was uneventful.

Sunday Dave and Claire brought the U-Haul to Hewitt where we unloaded it. The unloading took about two hours which is half the time it took to load. During the unloading process I found a penny on the ground which everyone knows is a sign of good luck.

Yes, I placed the last carton into the storage building.

From the always moving mind of                Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited